Adding new Hard Rock Café outlets and other niche brands takes JSM Corp onto the fast track, but it’s all in a day’s work, Jay Singh tells Priyanka Joshi
It is not difficult to link 43-year-old Jay Singh and brands like Hard Rock Café (HRC), Shiro and California Pizza Kitchen (CPK). Casually dressed in blue denim, shirt sleeves rolled up, the master franchise owner’s weekday business attire and indeed his business strategy says a lot about why he chose these brands to be run under JSM Corporation — a joint venture with co-founder and business partner Sanjay Mahtani.
And it is quite in the fitness of things that when he starts to show us a presentation on his 21-inch Apple iMac, he seems very much the Gen Y entrepreneur. Starting out in New York as an investment banker in 1990, Singh moved back to India in 1996 as country manager for Atwood Richards, the largest barter company in world. “I came to Bangalore and to my dismay the only night clubs this metro had were garage-like places with liquor licenses. Food, ambience and music were just not a part of the experience,” he recalls.
“Then I gate crashed Sanjay Mahtani’s party in Bangalore and we hit it off,” reveals Singh. But Mahtani, also 43, and Singh didn’t start working together right away; in fact, they spent the next nine years doing their own thing. Mahtani’s passion for food and entertainment led him to launch F Bar & Lounge at the Le Meridien Hotel in Bangalore and Singh continued with his day job at Atwood Richards, but the restaurant business remained a passion for this Economics and International Relations degree holder from Brown University.
His first business venture was funded out of his personal savings and christened Uralia after his two dogs — Uran and Alia. The launch of 180 Proof in Bangalore (which he subsequently sold off) was followed by three more fast food restaurants in Bangalore, and then F Bar & Lounge in Delhi (2003). “By then, I had decided to quit my day job as the business was growing and so was my need to be more fully involved with it,” he says.
In October 2005, the duo (Singh and Mahtani) met and, as Singh puts it, decided to form JSM Corp. “The India rights of Hard Rock Café were up for sale and neither of us wanted to do it alone. Since we both didn’t exactly aspire to be mass players in the food business, HRC seemed like the perfect start to our business venture,” Singh adds. JSM began frugally, partially funded by equity and the rest through bank loans. The first HRC and Shiro( a premium Oriental restobar) in Mumbai started with an investment of about Rs 6 crore.
With no desire to multiply outlets in a hurry, JSM has restricted itself to 5 HRCs in Mumbai, Bangalore, New Delhi, Hyderabad and Pune, and is now looking at brands that specialise in niche cuisines. As far as division of work is concerned — “We divide projects (outlets across cities) among ourselves. I took over the responsibility of launching CPK in Mumbai and Sanjay has completely taken care of the opening of Shiro in New Delhi,” Singh says, emphasising that both the partners believe in opening outlets at a pace that is not stressful.
The entrepreneur friends have also managed to define responsibilities along the lines of what each likes to do. “Broadly, he (Mahtani) looks after operations given his passion for food, drink, music and entertainment, while I look after all the back of the house matters (finance, purchasing, legal and HR), elaborates Singh. “The area that we both get involved in is design.”
It’s creditable that Singh and Mahtani work in complete sync with each other, yet seem to have ample time to pursue other interests. “I love travelling and taking short breaks with family and friends — I find this a great way to relax and rewind,” shares Singh, who now spends most of his spare time playing monopoly with his seven-year-old son.
With their eyes trained on five new outlets this year, and two more HRCs in Chennai and Colombo, JSM Corp is clearly on a roll. More recently, it has also added niche restaurant brands like CPK and Trader Vic’s to its basket. “Even though we haven’t decided on the official date to launch Trader Vic’s (a Polynesian bar), this venture has both of us excited,” confides Singh, who is also involved in expanding Shiro’s presence within India.
Today, JSM Corp employs over 750 people and Singh insists, “We have doubled our business every year. In fact, HRC Mumbai took off from day one. We have been profitable since the first year of operation.” Clearly a hands-on entrepreneur, Singh shares what he intends to do with JSM’s newest additions, “We just opened CPK in Bandra-Kurla Complex and in the next five years, the number of CPK outlets in country should be about 15.”
Even with all these expansion plans on the cards, Singh displays no signs of ennui. An evening out, even on his own time, is best spent at Hard Rock (Mumbai) for its music and Shiro for its overall ambiance, he confides. “And now, I have CPK with its outstanding food,” he quickly adds.
